Well ... 'Santa' brought me this early Christmas present ... a new LOOM! It is a Leclerc Meco, which is the model replaced by the Dorethy. It is on a stand now (the one Lecrerc made for this model or the Dorethy), but could be operated as a table loom as well. All the bits are there. Everything in clean, intact and ready to go. It came with lots of accessories and a breakdown warping board ... and directions ... ;-)
It will be a while before I get going with this as I am still in 'renovation mode' here, but ... I was excited to find it ... and at a very reasonable price ... :-)
Merry Christmas to ME!
Life is good ... hehehe
Every year, my sheep look forward to the coming of their Christmas season. It is signaled by the turning on of their lights. Thanks for reminding to post a picture of their lights Carol.
Last year I switched to energy efficient LED lights. They missed the brightness of the old fashioned lights, so I added a string of red and a string of blue for them.
They seem much happier ... ;-)
OK ... here it is ... in all of its seasonal splendor ... :-)
This cactus has been in the family for DECADES! It was my Grandmothers and my aunt gave it to me. It has never bloomed, and never looks like it is well and healthy. Somehow, I ended up as the caretaker of the 'mother plant'. I have given cuttings to many relatives, but have not yet found someone to take over full time care ... ;-)
Pete made a bow for it ... but ... it still looks better in the dark ... as do I ... hehehe
As I have 'matured' (read that 'aged'), my heart has just become so very filled with love. Most of the time, that love just seems to spill out and go nowhere productive.
Two years ago, I decided to channel some of that love into saving babies in Africa. With the help of Carol Arthur and Carol Brough (Picton Century 21 agent) ... and family and friends ... I was able to raise enough money for anti-retrovirals and medical care so that 60 babies were born without HIV, even though there mothers had HIV. That project felt good ... :-)
My heart continues to be sreaming that I have to do more! So ... this year I am committed to a couple of projects in Ghana. I will be donating money through "Village Volunteers". If you go to their website ... under 'Village Programs' ... click on Ghana. Of the money that you donate to a specific project, ALL of it goes to that project!
The first project that I want to do is to support Dzidefo Women's Cooperative. This venture was started with the support of Peta Hall, a wonderful potter and a dear friend. At present their are 5 woman in the cooperative, but they plan to increase that number to 10 in 2009. This project allows these women and their families to live independently, with dignity.
Their work is wonderful and reflects the happiness they find as they move toward self sufficiency. It is available for purchase though a website based in the US ... Sustainable Bebe. Peta has some of the garments and cushion covers available in her shop as well. I am also hoping that I can become a distributer of sorts and market things in southern Ontario.
It will actually take very little to have this cooperative funded for the year. The cost of fabric is $50 per sewer ... and the new sewing machines are just $75 each. That is a mere $850 USD. At the moment, that is about $1050 CAD. Throughout 2009, I will donate $25 from the sale of each sheep to these woman through Village Volunteers.
I am hoping that others who read this blog, might consider either donating to the cooperative ... or purchasing garments. If folks are able to donate, please let me know, or tell the Village Volunteer folks "Bill sent me."
Once I have THIS project underway ... I'll tell you about the orphanage that is affiliated with this cooperative and my dreams for supporting the kids there ... :-) My plan includes spending 6 to10 weeks working there as a volunteer, beginning in January 2010.
Well ... I have broken up 'round one breeding groups' after 17 days (one cycle). Usually, most get bred in that time.
I am headed for Michigan this weekend to bring back North Wind Holiday. I owned Holiday once, but couldn't get him across the border back then. He is older, but an F1 Holly ... AND even at 6 years of age, he has NO white fibres coming in. I have saved him 14 ewes, and he will do clean-up on all of the rest. I hope that he breeds DOZENS in my flock! I like so much about this guy!
He has a shorter fleece ... but then ... a lot of my ewes have longer fleeces than I like. Hopefully, things will work out well. He is also VERY soft, even for an older guy. Some of us DO maintain what matters as we age ... no ... mature ... :-)
I am THRILLED that he is coming to Canada!
My boys are growing up fast!
Bob, below and Doug have become awesome hunters. I haven't seen a rodent around the barns for a couple of months. They also follow me everywhere, and like to 'help' with most tasks. Although I am NOT a Cat Person, I am quite fond of these guys.
Soon, they will go in and have their testicles removed so that they STAY HERE! But I can't talk about the surgery in front of them. I told Barney what I had planned ... and he LEFT!!
hehehe
Here is a picture of Anna and I when she was here 'trick or treating'. She, of course, got a treat ... ;-)
WillowGarden Shake is an Ag katmoget, out of WillowGarden Vistabella (F2 Greyling / F2 Minder) and Lugthart Starry Champion (F1 Greyling). Since he is double patterned, I have put him with all nine of my extension dominant ewes.
The ewes in his group are all katmoget, gulmoget, or white ... but APPEAR to be Aa moorit or black due to extension dominance. Any lambs that are katmoget of Ag will NOT be extention dominant and can be kept.
I'm looking forward to great things from Shake! His brother, Dash, is still available for purchase.
FirthofFirth has a smaller group. Don't take that to mean that I like him less. To touch his fleece always makes me gasp at it's softness. He broke a horn, but ... who cares! He is a Winter Sky Black Forrest son ... and a gentle, gentleman.
- Gin ... a fawn Katmoget ewe lamb out of Kagera AI and V Creek Hummer
- Grenadine ... a grey katmoget out of Kazinga AI and Hummer
- Kazinga ... an Ag fawn katmoget F1 out of Todhill Glayva
- Opal ... a dark grey katmoget out of Linyanti AI and Hummer
- Schnapps ... a moorit ewe lamb out of Great Plains Sylvia (F1 Greyling) and Nelson AI (F1 Todhill Hornblower)
- Snickertini ... a grey katmoget/gulmoget out of Great Plaind Isabell (F1 Greyling) and V Creek Hummer
I have a LOT of katmogets in my flock due to AIing with Glayva and I'm hoping for some non-katmoget lambs out of this group. And, of course, they will ALL be awesome ... ;-)
FirthofFifth Aman has a group of 12 ewes with him.
- Chocolatini ... a horned fawn katmoget ewe lamb out of SheltrgPines Irene and Underhill Thelonius Monk
- Liberia AI ... a yearling fawn katmoget out of Dorethy Lamour and Todhill Glayva
- Olive ... a dark grey katmoget ewe lamb out of Great Plains Joanne and Killimanjaro AI (F1 Glayva)
- Viliraf Plum ... an older grey ewe out of some wonderful Cherrington genetics
- Hopeful Sarah ... a cute grey katmoget/gulmoget ewe lamb out of Michele Minty's flock
- Smirnoff ... a smirslet flecket sokket Tisket gulmoget ewe lamb
- Tobasco ... a fawn smirslet sokket fawn katmoget ewe lamb out of FirthofFifth Masala Chai and Killimanjaro (this sweetie is my friend Pete's favourite ... :-)
- Ameratto ... a mioget katmoget ewe lamb out of Ambrosia (emsket) and Killimanjaro
- Great Plains Tulip ... mother of Tisket and a double F2
- Great Plains Sylvia ... a nine year old F1 Greyling mioget musket ewe
- Billie Holliday ... a smirslet sokket Tisket gulmoget
- Macaroon ... a white ewe lamb out of Great Plains Sara (F1 Lightning) and Brable Nick
I can hardly WAIT to see these lambs ... :-)
Anna's t-shirt in the picture above pretty much sums up the theme for the day! Anna is new to being one, but her cousin, Will, has two months experience at it. 
Anna got to enjoy the traditional 1st birthday cupcake, beautifully iced by Nan Beckenham who came all the way from Australia (with Grumps, of course) for the occassion.
A girl after my own heart ... the icing goes FIRST! And the less fun bits just get mushed until it looks like she's eaten all of it.
Will had fun with his cupcake as well.
He did offer me a bite, which I very graciously declined ... ;-)
Will and Anna DO have fun together!
The presents were fun, but ... the paper and packages were the BEST part ... hehehe
Oh to be one again!
